Aura BogadoVerified account

For nearly a decade, @Latina touted @hilariabaldwin, a white woman with white parents from Massachusetts. During this time, the magazine has been accused of erasing black latinas, and publishing pieces about how white latinas are somehow discriminated for not being dark enough. https://t.co/Hd0nqVKefG 

The fact that @hilariabaldwin pretended to be from Spain with that ridiculous accent, while some of us have been denied opportunities for our actual accents, is disgusting. The fact that she pretended to be an immigrant, at a time of hatred, detention, and deportation, is sick.

Since being an immigrant (especially an undocumented immigrant!) has become a type of chic identity, let’s be clear: IF YOU’RE BORN TO A US CITIZEN PARENT IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, YOU ARE A US CITIZEN. If you arrive in the US with a US passport, you are a US citizen, not an immigrant.

Over and over again in the last few years, I’ve seen and heard people who were born to a US citizen in another country claim they are immigrants. They are not. Like John McCain, they are US citizens, and enjoy the privileges of US citizenship at birth, in another country.

Being an actual immigrant, having an actual accent, those are things that exist and are particular to certain people. Immigrants of color with accents find it even more challenging. It’s beyond offensive that @hilariabaldwin pretended to be someone she’s not.

So. @hilariabaldwin responded on Instagram today, acknowledging that she's a white girl from Boston. No explanation as to why she claimed to be latina.